Survival 101 - How to stay alive.

[FriikkiM]

 

Welcome aboard SS13. So youve been around a few rounds, burned yourself to death on a lightbulb a few times, and likely have ended up parapen C4'd too if youre lucky.

 

People die, entire departments explode, yet somehow, people stay alive. How the hell do they do it? Time to write a guide for the common pubbie, then.

 

So how DO you actually spot who is obviously out to get you? First of all, get rid of weaknesses. That PDA of yours? It has a messenger option. That can be used to PDA bomb you. Solution: turn messenger off. Burst communication only, if absolutely necessary. You do not want to be hit by a PDA bomb at the wrong moment.

 

Second. There are very few good reasons to let another player stand directly next to you - especially in an area without other people in immediate line of sight. Most of the time, coming up next to someone is a straight out tell of an upcoming parapenning or at the very least stunprodding. 90% of deaths could be avoided by simply making sure not to stand too close to people in hidden away places.

 

Third. Tools. Know where to get tools, how to apply them, and how to quickly, when needed, force open doors. All you need to know are the bolt wire, AI control wire, and one of the power wires. Making a note of these early on into any given round is a very good survival tactic.

 

Most importantly : Trust. The ultimate weakness, and one to be exploited when someone is silly enough to exhibit signs of it. There are very few jobs in the game that actually require assistance from another person, and if someone insists on helping you, beware. Nine times out of ten its a plot that will end with you parapen C4'd or eaten by a changeling.

 

Speaking of changelings - with range extension, they can sting three squares away. Beware the tiny pricks.

 

Dealing with the AI - get tools, know how to use them. Blow borgs at first clear sign of trouble. An Ai that has its first borg go Sec is usually planning something. Apart from murdering, there is really no reason to pick something else than Engieborg.

 

Good luck. Stay alive.

 

[NTXUb]

is there anybody here who did not already know all of this

[FriikkiM]

You'd be surprised.

[Roland410]

The only thing I can say, secborgs aren't always evil.

[Bharg]

I like secborgs. They can open doors and that way often respond quicker than security officers.

[NTXUb]

 

The only thing I can say, secborgs aren't always evil.

I like secborgs. They can open doors and that way often respond quicker than security officers.

 

maf AI disinfo agents detected

 

[FriikkiM]

Usually secborg is bad news no matter the circumstances. For all peaceful purposes an engieborg will do.

[Froststahr]

This seems kind of meta for some of these, such as turning off PDA messaging at the beginning.

[Tali]

 

Engiborgfag detected.

 

Stop trying to spread disinfo about Securiborgs. Not every Securiborg is a malfAI puppet out to get you.

 

[FriikkiM]

PDA bombs are a shitty thing that can be easily prevented. Messenger off, you are walking with a potential bomb and stun in your pocket, ready to go off at any time. Its suicide. There is no logical reason to keep it on except when needed. Doubly so when traitor - worst case scenario, you lose your uplink without being able to do shit at all.

[Lycaeon]

Go to the wiki and familiarize yourself with each of the antagonists and how they usually behave based on their resources and objectives. While you shouldn't go screaming about a vampire or changeling over radio without a very good non-meta reason, just being situationally aware yourself of someone following you for no reason or running around in maintenance can and will save your life.

[FriikkiM]

Most antagonists need at least clear line of sight and/or coming close to you to do their dirty stuff. There is literally no gameplay reason to ever allow anyone closer than 3 steps without something solid inbetween. It's plain suicidal stupidity, and that is the difference between successful assassination objectives and a mocking red "Failed!".

[DeletedUser]

 

You obviously miss a very important point in SS13: this is a ROLEPLAY game, even if we have light RP.

The point of this game is not to win, or lose, or a green or red text at tne end. The point of this game is to have fun playing as 2d spehssmen.

Dying is a part of the game, should you avoid it? of course, but what you are doing here is paranoic powergaming, ignoring any RP and just playing to win. This is NOT how you get Karma Points.

How will you able to enjoy the game if you see a lethal threat in everybody?

How won't you go insane if you assume that everybody is carrying a parapen is their PDAs?

How is people supossed to like you or befriend you if you won't let anyone get close to you?

 

Personally, i don't care at all if i win or lose as antag, the green text means absolutely nothing to me, the purpose of the antags is to avoid extended rounds and making the round fun for everybody (and yes, i am aware how much this last thing is ignored).

 

[Sheakhan]

 

The point of this game is not to win, or lose, or a green or red text at tne end. The point of this game is to have fun playing as 2d spehssmen.

So if you have fun winning, losing, or green/red texting are you missing the point? Everyone has their own version of fun, just because it doesn't match yours doesn't make it wrong.

 

Dying is a part of the game, should you avoid it? of course, but what you are doing here is paranoic powergaming, ignoring any RP and just playing to win. This is NOT how you get Karma Points.

 

Are people that are paranoid in real life powergaming reality? I mean, for fuck's sake, we've already covered that at least some of these characters have experienced repeatedly fucked up shifts aboard the Space Station. Paranoia is, to a point, expected.

That being said, playing just to earn Karma Points IS powergaming, and pretty pathetic. I play to enjoy the game without destroying the experience for others, not for cookies and OOC rewards. You're suggesting these players metagame for OOC approval and profit. For shame.

 

How will you able to enjoy the game if you see a lethal threat in everybody?

 

Playing a jumpy paranoid schizophrenic with a habit of jumping out of his skin in terror at the slightest "hostile" movement could be fucking hysterically amusing. Just because you don't see the fun doesn't mean there isn't any.

 

How won't you go insane if you assume that everybody is carrying a parapen is their PDAs?

 

By not being a chucklefuck. IE: The same way you avoid doing the same. Roleplay isn't a black/white issue, people ARE capable of moderation, and reasonable character choices. Being paranoid ICly doesn't suddenly mean you're a loose cannon likely to snap and hacksaw people to death at a moments notice, just as playing an aggressive character doesn't mean you're going to murderbone anyone who looks at you crosseyed.

 

How is people supossed to like you or befriend you if you won't let anyone get close to you?

"How are people supposed to like/or befriend you..."

That corrected, who cares? Not everyone plays likeable characters. When I play Walter, not many people enjoy him ICly, and he rarely if ever makes friends or lets anyone close to him, but I have a fucking blast, and many, many, many people enjoy the character OOCly, as evidenced by blatant compliments, admin approval, and karma earned.

 

Personally, i don't care at all if i win or lose as antag, the green text means absolutely nothing to me, the purpose of the antags is to avoid extended rounds and making the round fun for everybody (and yes, i am aware how much this last thing is ignored).

 

That's your opinion, and it's a perfectly good one! Enjoy the game how you want to enjoy it! But please... As an admin, you are an example for the unwashed masses, it is your unwritten obligation to project a good example and in my humble opinion, blasting the playstyles of other people is far from upholding that example. It is offensive, hence this long-winded and in depth response.

 

[FriikkiM]

 

The point of the game is to do insane shit in 2d spess, and staying alive is the first step towards completing that.

 

You do not reach the point where you can singlehandedly turn any round into the stuff of legends by being laughably unrobust and dying to some random traitor.

 

[Misha Arsellec Lune]

 

Useless guide...

PDA bombs happen too rarely for you to have any need to turn off the PDA after all someone who actually needs your help could be trying to call you.

PDA is the communication method of the black market nobody will talk over comms that they want polyacid or other stuff security hates having around.

 

And blowing ALL borgs is a waste of metal, brain power and chances to effectively kill the AI without any casualities.

Locking the borg down, cutting the AI sync wire and reseting it is a surefire way to kill the AI in 5 minutes if its actually rogue.

 

And some time its not right to just destroy all borgs because one of them got emagged by some traitor.

 

[FriikkiM]

 

Using PDA as a communication method leaves traces. It is downright idiotic.

There are enough ways to get what you want without leaving too many traces.

Relying on others is weakness.

The weak die.

 

[Misha Arsellec Lune]

 

Nobody fucking checks the PDA history and the RD doesn't care about the monitor.

As regular AI player I somewhat know what humans do and don't.

PDA is safe 80% of the time.. the other 20% the AI intercepts a useless chunk of the message so avoid words like rev, absorb, assassinate, steal etc.

 

Just be a master of bluffing. And stack up environmental bonuses to gain the upper hand if you need to defend yourself... like if you are a race that has good darkvision turn off the lights, if you play as diona carry turned on flashlights in your pocket and wear a hardhat, if you are a slime person don't wear an exosuit or backpack and carry a syringe and beaker with you so you can throw your own 'blood' on the floor, as a grey you can hide in a locker and call security or anyone you can trust, if you have claws use those over anything weaker than a fire extinquisher.

Try to find a location where your opponent is at disadvantage like space when you have a hardsuit and he doesn't.. or you happen to have a fire extinquisher.

But teamwork is probably the most key element of survival. With a friend the common 'stun-n-kill' strategy no longer works as no stun weapon has enough charges for handling and killing both of you... guns usually don't have enough ammo to kill you both and a changeling can't sting and absorb both.

And don't forget hilarious job synergy chemist + botanist can cook up some cool stuff, miner + roboticist/scientist and you have the best tools on the station.

Nothing can kill you if you have superior or surprisingly dangerous equipment and know how to use it.

My favorite synergy is xenobiologist + chef.

 

Trust is for the weak? Pah! Just try your chance for being the A-Team. Also some traitors don't kill you if they trust you.

 

[FriikkiM]

Not being killed by traitors, thats pretty normal really. Most people by now know that I literally do not see traitors as long as they do not actively attempt to kill me. Honk.

[necaladun]

 

I highly approve of paranoia, and play some very paranoid characters myself. Although I also love playing some naive ones.

 

When it comes to traitors, if it is a tator round, roughly 1-10 people will be a traitor. Of those, maybe 30% will have an assassinate objective, which then has a pretty low chance of being you.

 

I'm not saying don't be paranoid if you enjoy it, but treating everyone as a traitor trying to kill you isn't always a good idea.

 

[FriikkiM]

 

This is where I come clean and note that maybe 60% of the shit I say here is pure bait.

...You honestly think I'd tell ALL my secrets? :3c